Comments by "Jim Taylor" (@jimtaylor294) on "Asbestos and Human History" video.

Should be noted though that thousands of substances are lethal if powdered and thus airborne (in quantity), though asbestos is certainly a front runner. Even flour dust can be deadly. This is both because of it being something nobody wants in the lungs... and because air saturated with it is as combustable... as oxidized Petrol. Custard Powder behaves in a similar fashion to the latter, as does Aluminium and Magnesium dust. And to think some consider Chemistry to be boring...
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@mfbfreak Definitely. Plaster dust too. Back when the Railways and Navy relied on Coal they had to 'damp it down' with water, as the dust when airborne was both a recipe for a crude Fuel Air Bomb, and could coat the personnel's lungs with thick, black suffocating gunk.
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As a kid in the 1990's I vaguely remember when the Housing Association was removing Asbestos from the street... but of greater significance was How. No protection, no proper safety measures... large amounts of the stuff being carelessly taken off, broken into peices and heaped up in the street, exposed to the open air, all during the school holidays on a street of over 60 houses, most with children. A family member was an Architect however, and told one's parents Exactly what to do and who to call... within 1/2 an hour everything changed. Proper PPE came out, the material was carefully collected into sealed bags and promptly taken away, and all cowboy builder behavoir stopped dead. Somebody in higher up had evidently crapped themselves that at least one of us residents weren't ignorant enough to know what had been going on was horrifically illegal. (probably to embezzle / save money somewhere) It never happened again either. Moral of the story: Always know the local building regulations / have an aquaintance or relation whom knows. It could make a big difference :) .
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